Kaiya's Travels in the South!

I won't lie, I've heard more than once that we were crazy to try and accomplish a 10 day car trip with a 2 month old. Truth is, I probably wouldn't have chanced it if it wasn't for important family reasons. In the end though, I was utterly in awe of the ease in which Kaiya traveled. She was the perfect little angel the entire trip!

I should note here that I had hundreds of awesome photos of our trip and all the family members that met Kaiya, only to have a dreadful sequence of events lead to the lose of the SD card. I'm so sad about it, but I can only be grateful I didn't loss the camera and that I had a number of photos on our phones :/

Emerald Island, NC

We started off our travels in Emerald Isle, NC. This was the location of John's family reunion, the first in 30 years! Aside from meeting a ton of "new" family members, we enjoyed a couple days of sun and sand... Who am I kidding? There was plenty of sun and WAY too much sand. I spent the entire time trying to keep Kaiya out of the sun and sand off of her face and out of her eyes. Which, as you guessed, was a losing battle. I've always been more of a pool girl. It made for some beautiful pictures though:)

    

    

    

Asheville, NC

The drive from Emerald Isle to Nashville is an 11 hour drive, not counting the stops necessary to nurse and change Kaiya, so we decided to make a little stop in Asheville, NC. I had always wanted to see Asheville and I've heard awesome things about it so we made a reservation at a nice little apartment on airbnb.com (we love that site) and spent a restful 18 hours in the quaint little city. 

Originally we had planned to do the Biltmore, but waiting to buy tickets meant it would have been a very expensive day. Tickets were $59 a piece! No thank you. Instead we went to the Asheville Botanical Gardens and spent a couple hours walking around on a beautifully sunny day. (I SO wish I had some of the pictures from this, they would have been beautiful :(

We also had the opportunity to eat at a couple of the city's little restaurants. One thing is for sure, the food scene in Asheville was great!

    
   

Nashville, TN

Since we had a few days until we needed to be in Cookeville, TN to help with Bo and Leah's wedding, we took advantage of the down time by heading out towards Nashville, which is where much of my family has relocated. It was such a joy to be able to introduce Kaiya to so much of the family! We stayed with Aunt KK and Uncle Jeff and were only bummed that Uncle Jeff had to take off on a business trip and that we weren't able to spend more time with Aunt KK during the day. Visiting during the week while everyone had to work has it's downsides. 

On Tuesday we took Kaiya over to visit Emily, Brian, Ella and Wesley. As always, we had a lovely time! We enjoyed a delicious lunch full of perfect conversation and lots of kiddie time. I'm SO happy that Kaiya will have cousins (2nd cousins once removed to be exact) so close to her age! I think Ella likes the idea too ;)

That night we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house, then we all out to dinner with Uncle Mark, Aunt Deidree, and cousins Delaney and Eli. Kaiya was, of course, a hit, though she slept through most of dinner.

Delaney greeting Kaiya

The following day we took it easy in the morning. Kaiya needed a bit of down time, as evident by her very fussy morning. All she wanted to do was be held and nap. Poor girl.

That evening we went to Uncle Mark and Aunt Deidree's house for dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt KK. I have to tell you that Aunt Deidree makes the most delicious cheesy bread I have ever had and Uncle Mark grills a perfectly moist and well seasoned cut of meat. Add to that all the other yummy sides Aunt Deidree made and I'll have dinner at their place any time:)

    

    

Cookeville/McMinnville, TN

Our purpose for traveling to Cookeville on Thursday was to help Leah and Bo get ready for their big day! We were so excited to share their big day with them. John helped Bo up at the farm while I brought Kaiya up to meet Leah and help stick monograms on favors. Kaiya was an instant fan of Leah:)

On Friday the rest of the family arrived to attend the rehearsal dinner. Kaiya showed up sporting her little Tennessee cheerleading outfit, which John had been saving specifically for this event:)

Kaiya and Grandpa Russ

Kaiya with Uncle Matt and Aunt Lauren

A night picture of the beautiful tent for Saturday's wedding

Then, at long last, Saturday arrived and it was wedding day! We started the day with a little Murphy tradition: Cracker Barrel breakfast. How handome are these Murphy boys?!

After breakfast we just spent some time visiting.

Until FINALLY it was time for the event we'd all been waiting for. Bo and Leah's wedding was simply perfect. Cheyenne and I joked that we now know what it's like to live inside pinterest for a night. There wasn't a detail forgotten, and the pictures from my iphone don't do it justice so you'll just have to trust me that it was epic.

        

    

    

Ultimately, taking the risk and traveling with Kaiya so that we could be a part of John's family reuinion, have the opportunity tointroduce Kaiya to so many family members, and witness the joining of two of our favorite people was totally worth it. We were just lucky that Kaiya was a complete rockstar because it will forever be a trip worth remembering :) 

And, since Kaiya seems to be a little travel bug already (2 months into life) I've started a little map to keep track of all her destinations! Note: Red dots are locations she has spent at least 1 night. The purple dots are confirmed upcoming trips:)

Check out the Map Directory at StepMap